Top positive review

5.0 out of 5 starsAmazon, you're messing up! Half these reviews are for antennas, not this amplifier! But the amp is great

ByGregon March 6, 2016

Amazon, you're messing up! Half these reviews are for antennas, not this amplifier! Like having reviews for shoes and socks on the same page.That said, I installed this on my AntennasDirect Element antenna in the attic, and it improved the signal tremendously, for $44 rather than the AntennasDirect product at $79.Two items must be plugged in to the coax antenna cable - the amplifier at the antenna, and a power inserter, probably at your TV. The power inserter has a small transformer that plugs into 110v. You'll need a couple of extra coax jumpers, one from the antenna to the amplifier, and the other between the power inserter and TV. Be careful if you need to split the signal to more than one TV - either the splitter must have pass-through capability, or you need to install the power inserter on the antenna side of the coax cable.

Top critical review

I'm in a fringe area and reception was ok until the networks began running at lower power to save money I guess. Half my stations were breaking up one by one. Rechecked my antenna and cable - ok. When I measured lower levels they were lower than the previous year. Installing this amplifier made a slight improvement but nothing to wright home about. The worst times are in the mornings and during windy conditions. The unit is easy to install and the brand is an old trusted company from my childhood although it is probably owned by a foreign entity starting with C. Note: when power is interupted to the amplifier the signal degrades to less than if the amplifier was not installed.

Amazon, you're messing up! Half these reviews are for antennas, not this amplifier! Like having reviews for shoes and socks on the same page.That said, I installed this on my AntennasDirect Element antenna in the attic, and it improved the signal tremendously, for $44 rather than the AntennasDirect product at $79.Two items must be plugged in to the coax antenna cable - the amplifier at the antenna, and a power inserter, probably at your TV. The power inserter has a small transformer that plugs into 110v. You'll need a couple of extra coax jumpers, one from the antenna to the amplifier, and the other between the power inserter and TV. Be careful if you need to split the signal to more than one TV - either the splitter must have pass-through capability, or you need to install the power inserter on the antenna side of the coax cable.

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The LNA-200 is an excellent piece of hardware that can produce significant benefits in over-the-air TV reception. That being said, its benefits can only be realized when signal conditions are appropriate and it is installed correctly. From analyzing the negative reviews, it appears that many of the problems that were encountered with this equipment were the result of inappropriate use and/or installation.

The particular situation in which this amplifier works well is one in which the receiving equipment is signal starved but not noisy – a low-level signal (e.g., transmitter tower is distant from the receiver and/or of relatively low power) embedded in a relatively low noise background. While expensive instrumentation is required to definitively determine when this situation exists, it is possible to use the signal strength diagnostics built into most modern digital TV’s to get a strong hint that this is the case. In particular, if a TV owner uses the Menu option to access a screen which shows the signal strength and/or signal-to-noise ratio and/or signal quality, a reasonably clear picture of an appropriate application may be possible. If these parameters are low – i.e., they reflect a small signal – or vary relatively rapidly in time, it is likely that the desired digital signal is being adversely affected by environmental or propagation distance effects. The best way to make this kind of observation is with a single TV set connected to a single antenna – either upper-VHF or UHF band – so that the intrinsic signal effects are separated from noise or losses arising from multiple splitting effects/losses and/or intrinsic receiver/line noise. Under these conditions, use of a high-quality, low-noise pre-amplifier (i.e., more than 10 dB gain, noise factor of 1 dB or thereabouts, but not more than 1.5 or 2) is likely to be very beneficial. If not, an amplifier like an LNA-200 is unlikely to be very helpful. [Note: Amplifiers with higher noise figures may be useful as distribution amplifiers for multiple splits AFTER the signal levels are brought up to usable levels.]

To use a pre-amplifier like an LNA-200 effectively, it should be connected in the coax cable line after the antenna but before any other components (e.g., before splitters used to divide the signal among multiple TV sets), so that it increases the signal level without amplifying any noise or loss effects introduced by the installation plumbing in a user’s home. Other amplifiers, most often characterized as distribution amplifiers rather than pre-amplifiers, typically have much higher noise figures – anywhere from 4 to 15 dB – and may be useful downstream further downstream in a home wiring network. In such locations, they can maintain signal strength after being multiply split, but these amplifiers are not useful in bringing up signal levels from the intrinsic noise floor because they introduce additional noise which is amplified and drives down the intrinsic signal quality. A good measure of overall signal quality is the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), if a TV set’s menu of diagnostics provides this parameter: modern tuners must be designed (by the ATSC tuner standard to which they are bound) to lock onto digital signals when the SNR is at least 15 dB, and values less than generally result in poor/no picture and/or image tearing. Signal levels of 20 dB or so are OK, but – in the presence of atmospheric turbulence or weather – may be degraded below useful levels. In this situation, an amplifier like an LNA-200 may provide the boost needed to generate a useful, reliable TV image.

While details of the negative reviews that area associated with the LNA-200 rarely have enough detail to diagnose the reason for the failures, they give hints that many of the problem areas are likely to have arisen from the following: (1) inappropriate application, such as at the bottom of a cable-splitting chain next to a TV set, rather than at the antenna; (2) incorrect installation of the in-line-coax power supply, which can fail to provide the DC power needed if it’s installed backwards or if a signal splitter (most of which are not “DC passing” if not specifically ordered to allow power to be passed up the line for amps/rotators as the signals come down the line); (3) incorrect installation of the amplifier, by connecting the inputs from the antenna and the output to the TV to the wrong terminal which can damage equipment in the lines, including the amplifier or TV.

Reports of units being dead out of the box (DOB) have also appeared in the reviews of this equipment but it’s not clear what the frequency of this problem is. Sadly, in the case of most modern electronics, a disappointingly large fraction – 5 or 10 % is not unusual -- of newly shipped units either are DOB or are perceived so. Some of the perceptions are from users who don’t know how to set up or connect the equipment – probably the majority. The actual number of really DOB units is typically a few percent, and may reflect either poor quality control or damage in transit/handling – but the reviews which appear online don’t provide the information needed to determine what the real problem is.

In the case of the LNA-200, my guess is that most of the problems with applications lie with improper application, installation, or connection. The Winegard folks have been around for a long time and are known for their excellence in design and production of durable hardware. If you do encounter a problem, I’d recommend that you give them a call or send them an e-mail to determine the genesis of the problem – they’ll almost certainly connect you with an applications engineer who can determine whether you’ve got the right gear, installed it correctly, and are using it the way it was supposed to be operated – or whether you’ve just got a dud. They’re a good company – probably the best at what they do – and my experience has been that they stand behind their gear.

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This product did wonders for my reception at my new house. I only live about 20 miles from the broadcast towers, but the terrain is extremely hilly and reception is bad. To make matters worse, I have long coax runs (50-100ft) and was trying to split the signal three ways. I could only get one channel to come in. I purchased a new clearstream 2v long range HDTV antenna to replace my old one thinking that was the problem. It didn't make a difference. Finally, I decided to give this a try and I couldn't be happier. I was able to pick up every major channel and have a strong signal as well. The outcome has far exceeded my expectations.

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This is a review of the "Boost XT" preamp. for some reason amazon has this item along with three antennas together as one item. Whatever.

Good points:

I live in an area with some OTA channels still broadcasting on legacy VHF (why oh why?) so I needed a preamp I knew would work in VHF and this works great on VHF. Cool. Works as advertised.

The amp brought my arbitrary and meaningless signal level numbers up 20 or so, 80s and up maxed out at 100, and one channel I really wanted that was only around 40-50 went up to a perfectly usable 70+. So it does work...

I have not measured it but the power injector cable feels about 18 inches long. Thats a little short for some installs. An after market cell phone charging cable should work although I've not tested, if you need to go 12 feet from an outlet or something.

The antenna amplifier is in molded black plastic as you can see in the pics on Amazon. Installed on a sunny rooftop it wouldn't matter, but I installed in a dark attic. Sure would have been nice if they molded it in white plastic with black letters or wiped some white paint on the raised lettering. Obviously it doesn't work well if hooked up backwards... Or just remember to bring a flashlight into the attic like I did.

It's mounted in my attic so I have not used the mounting hardware, although it looks nice and usable enough and was shipped with everything the manual and package claimed would be in there.

I only gave 4 stars due to value. For $50 I'd expect a little more product development work in the mast mounted plastic molding or a power cable longer than my forearm. So close, so very close to perfection in a product, but not quite there, and asking too much money for not being absolutely perfect. At $20, maybe even $30, I'd give it 5 stars. I have no "star level" complaints about individual item quality or operation, solely a complaint about the price being a bit high for what you get and some design and product marketing complaints.

In summary I like it and would buy it again although I'd complain about it costing too much and being close to perfection yet not quite there.

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This was definitely worth the money. You need to follow the directions exactly, though, or you will blow out the power element. I plugged in the white box to the antenna, thinking that it was the amplifier and I was using it for an indoor antenna. It stopped working after about 5 minutes. I called the company and they said that the black box is actually the amplifier and the white box simply powers it. If you only plug in the white box, it will short circuit and die. This was not spelled out anywhere in the directions.

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We purchased this antenna to allow us to "cut the cable"Product shipped promptly and was well packaged. Instructions were clear and straight forward. Installation went smoothly with the exception that it was missing some hardware. One of the corner reflectors was missing the bolt/hex nut to mount to the main boom.The boom brace was missing one of the mounting bolts/hex nuts. The main mast clamp was also missing one of the hex nuts. It must have been manufactured around the end of a shift. Quality Assurance should have caught these missing items. After installation, the TV channel scan discovered 33 channels. We are very pleased with the antenna so far. I would have given it five stars if it had shipped with all of the installation hardware.

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We have a small, expensive, rooftop antenna (Clearstream 4V) and could pull in about a dozen channels (not very reliably) from either Boston or Rhode Island. I added this device up at the antenna, and I now have 25 channels with a stronger signal on the those that were previously marginal. I was surprised by how well it worked. I still don't get NBC for some reason, and I would have to repoint the antenna to get Fox, but this device works very well for the direction in which it is currently pointed. You will need to add two short R/6 coaxial cables, one at either end of your main antenna R/6 coaxial. They are not provided. Three to six feet is all you need for the two extra cables.

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I'm in a fringe area and reception was ok until the networks began running at lower power to save money I guess. Half my stations were breaking up one by one. Rechecked my antenna and cable - ok. When I measured lower levels they were lower than the previous year. Installing this amplifier made a slight improvement but nothing to wright home about. The worst times are in the mornings and during windy conditions. The unit is easy to install and the brand is an old trusted company from my childhood although it is probably owned by a foreign entity starting with C. Note: when power is interupted to the amplifier the signal degrades to less than if the amplifier was not installed.

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WORKS AMAZING WELL! My Pop's was miserable that he could only get 6 channels off his stock RCA antenna, and some of those would not come in clear at all... But since I bought him this and installed it for him, he can pick up a whopping 56 DIGITAL channels! I was surprised myself on how well this thing works and installation was fairly simple. Reception is crystal clear full HDTV. Thank you Winegard and Amazon, the Boost XT made my Pop's very happy. :)